Nehemiah 2:6

The account is very condensed. Nehemiah's request is favourably received, but only the general results of the conversation are related. The king seems at once to have appointed Nehemiah to be -governor" at Jerusalem (cf. Nehemiah 5:14), and to have approved the policy of restoring the walls.

the queen The royal consort (cf. Psalms 45:10; Daniel 5:2-3; Daniel 5:23) the head of the Harem. She may possibly have been Damaspia, who is mentioned by the historian Ctesias as the consort of Artaxerxes.

sitting by him It was clearly not a public banquet (cf. Esther 1). The position of the queen sitting by or before the king corresponds with representations in the monuments. Compare especially the representation of Assurbanipal recliningat a banquet, his queen being seatedon a chair at the foot of his couch (Brit. Mus.).

and I set him a time The duration of this period is not stated. And the length of Nehemiah's first residence in Jerusalem has been much disputed, some holding that he returned to the king's court immediately after the completion of the walls, others saying that he remained as governor (cf. Nehemiah 5:14) for twelve years, having obtained an extension of the time of absence originally agreed upon.